


The Fifth Horseperson

by yougotooslowformeaziraphale



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21663685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yougotooslowformeaziraphale/pseuds/yougotooslowformeaziraphale
Summary: The world has changed since Pollution took the job of the fourth horseperson and humans have recreated their old methods of death
Kudos: 15





	The Fifth Horseperson

She had retired. 

Humans had evolved throughout the years; vaccines, handwashing, sterilizing surgical instruments. They no longer feared her the way the had in the past. While her power had not completely dwindled, humans no longer feared extinction from her. 

She was not angry, had not fought the truth. She had calmly handed her spot over to the new horseperson, Pollution, knowing full well that humans had a far better chance being destroyed by their own creations than be disease and illness with all precautions put in place. Yes, she willingly stepped down from her post but that does not mean she ignored humanity. She took obscene joy in concocting new diseases to torment those who could not afford medical care. Poverty was after all her best friend. She laughed every time a seemingly small fever took another human life from the earth. She was content like this for years; removing just a few lives at a time. Nothing apocalyptic, but enough to remind humans what lurked in the shadows of their past. 

Until one day she came across a doctor, doctor only by a technicality. She could sense his prejudice and hatred bubbling within him. It was far too easy, a mere suggestion, a hint of an idea. Vaccines were her greatest enemy and just like that, the work of one man, she had a way back to the human race. His idea took off like the plague, one of her greatest inventions. Ablsiem, fear, and the internet spread the contaminated research across the world, affecting the place where she struggled to reach most, middle and upper-class white families. 

Mothers screamed that doctors were trying to turn their precious children autistic, their hatred of anyone who could not fit into their perfect image causing them to aid in the death of children. They cried that modern medicine brought about the destruction of the human race, turning a blind eye to facts and statistics. Those who base their beliefs in fear and hatred often do.

Listening to their rants and conventions, Pestilence smiled. Her time had come again.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, never written fanfiction before, hope this was okay. Wrote this after my friend mentioned that if Good Omens was written today Pestilence would still be a horseperson because of the anti-vacc movement. I couldn't get the idea out of my head so here it is.


End file.
